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Creature of Havoc (book)
Creature of Havoc is a single-player role-playing gamebook written by Steve Jackson, illustrated by Alan Langford and originally published in 1986 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2002. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 24th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-032040-7) and 4th in the modern Wizard series (ISBN 1-84046-391-0). Creation Tales of Trolltooth Pass The player begins this adventure with no idea who they are or where they are. The player is an unidentified beast and begins the adventure with no concept of language or reason. The player must discover what has happened to them and along the way a greater plot unfolds. The book begins with an extensive background section detailing the recent history of an area of Allansia known as Trolltooth Pass. An Evil Necromancer named Zharradan Marr has slowly been seizing power in the region by building up wealth and a small army. He is particularly feared as a practitioner of marrangha, a type of black magic that involves the transformation of limbs and organs from one creature to another. Marr learnt this from his mentors in the village of Dree, an evil settlement of witches. Over the years Marr has built up a dedicated ring of followers: Vallaska Roue, a Human; Hannicus, a wizard of Neutral alignment; Thugruff, a Half-Troll; and Darramouss, an undead Half-Elf. Hannicus gives Marr much information about the area, including the legend of Stittle Woad - an Elven village in the Forest of Spiders that supposedly hold three "Vapours" - benevolent spirits which bestow the gifts of reason, languages and Elven magic. Marr, interested in the secrets of Elven magic, manages to steal the Vapours - however, he finds that he cannot understand their secrets without finding the village of Stittle Woad. This presents a problem, as the village is hidden high in the forest's treetops by Elven magic. A solution presents itself in the form of the Galleykeep, a flying ship that arrives from the east. Marr uses his troops to capture the flying ship and makes it not only his new headquarters, but a tool to discover the location of Stittle Woad from above. Little of the background information is relevant to the player at the beginning of the book, for they wake up in a dark corridor to find that they have no memory of who they are. Not only that, but the player is not even human - they take the role of a large, powerful and unintelligent beast. This results in some difficulty as the player makes his way through the first sections of the book, which are set in Marr's underground dungeons. Because the creature cannot make its own decisions, it is governed by instinct, and die rolls are used to determine decisions rather than the player's own choice. This changes once the player finds the Vapour of Reason, which allows him to make his own choices. The player proceeds through the dungeon, killing a number of adventurers which (judging from information in the background) are seeking to recover the Vapours. The player soon finds the Vapour of Languages, which allows him to understand what others are saying. He then encounters the wizard Hannicus, who has been imprisoned by Marr for incompetence. Hannicus tells the player how to get past Darramouss, who guards the exit of the dungeon. The player uses this information to kill Darramouss and then escapes the complex into a graveyard. On the surface, the player is visited by the witch-women of Dree, who send him on a quest to find them Sculliweed root. On the way the player befriends a Half-Orc named Grog, and when Grog is killed by Toadmen, takes his knapsack (which contains a mysterious wooden case). The player finds Sculliweed and delivers it to the witch-women, who in return tell him where to find Daga Weaseltongue, an Elf who then tells the player how to get on-board the Galleykeep (which involves being caught in a trap, many of which are littered around the forest to provide the flying ship with food). Onboard the Galleykeep, the player fights past Marr's creatures and confronts the necromancer himself, who is on the other side of a mirror in an unreal dreamworld. Marr reveals what is inside Grog's wooden case: the Vapour of Elven Magic. He also reveals that the player was originally the Captain of the Galleykeep, and was transformed into a hideous beast using marrangha after Marr captured the ship. Many of the monsters the player killed in Marr's dungeons were former members of the crew, likewise transformed by marrangha. Marr demands the Vapour, but the player defeats him by destroying the mirror. With the necromancer dead, the effects of marrangha wear off, and the player reverts into his previous human self. The book ends with him returning to his position as commander of the Galleykeep. The other ending is that the player gives the vapour to Marr, and with that the player kills Marr's right hand (although this is unseen). Marr then uses the vapor to find Stittle Woad and takes over Titan. This ending is discouraged by most players. How to Fight Creatures of Trolltooth Pass The book in general follows the original rules set down in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain. (see Game System) Unique Rules This book contains slightly different rules than most Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. A hit to the player in combat does 1 stamina point less damage than usual due to the player's tough hide and rolling a double when determining the player's attack strength will instantly kill an enemy. Testing Your Luck in battle when wounded means that a lucky roll results in no damage. The player also begins with no Provisions, money, or equipment. Wizard Books Edition Rule Errors Some of the rules are incorrectly printed in the Wizard Books version of the book. In the Wizard version this means that the reduced damage in combat noted above is not made clear. Cover and Illustrations '''Covers The original cover of the book was designed and illustrated by Ian Miller. When the book was republished by Wizard a new cover was designed and illustrated by Les Edwards. This was the last book to feature the Adventure Gamebooks banner. #Price of 1st Impression #Price of 3rd Impression #Price of 8th Impression #Price of 8th Impression (Barcode Indicator suggests actually "9th" Impression). Note that the colour map is not included in this edition. Illustrations The interior illustrations were by Alan Langford. There were 33 full page illustrations and 9 minor repeated illustrations scattered throughout the text. The paragraphs with a full page illustration were: 1, 12, 24, 40, 63, 88, 100, 111, 123, 134, 147, 170, 182, 194, 217, 229, 241, 263, 274, 287, 299, 312, 323, 334, 356, 366, 377, 390, 400, 411, 423, 435 and 447. The colour map on the inside front cover was by Dave Andrews. Intertextual References The backstory of Zharradan Marr was elaborated on in later books. It was established that Marr was once one of three pupils of an Evil wizard called Volgera Darkstorm (the other two being Balthus Dire from the book The Citadel of Chaos and Oldoran Zagor from the book The Warlock of Firetop Mountain). At the age of seventeen, the three pupils tired of learning and killed their teacher by magic. - ??? Other Media Main Characters YOU: Hero of Creature of Havoc *Daga Weaseltongue - Elf *Darramouss - an undead Half-Elf *Grog - Half-Orc *Hannicus - Wizard *Quimmel Bone *Thugruff - Half-Troll *Vallaska Roue - Human *Zharradan Marr Locations *Bilgewater *Coven *Deedlewater *Dree *Forest of Spiders *Knotoak Wood *Rainbow Ponds *Spider River *Stittle Woad *Trolltooth Pass *Windward Plain *Xeno Wood Encounters *Black Elf *Blood Orcs *Carrion Bugs *Chaos Warriors *Clawbeast *Devourer *Elf *Flesh-Feeders *Giant Hornet *Gluevines *Goblins *Half-Orc *Hobbits *Humans - Armoured Knight/Brigand/"Eleven"/Fighter in Leather Armour/Guard/Thief/Villager/Warriors/Woodcutter *Manic Beast *Master of Hellfire *Ophidiotaur *Quimmel Bone *Rhino-Man *Rosina of Dree *Stallion *Strongarm *Thugruff *Toadman *Zombies Further Notes *This is, to date, the last Fighting Fantasy gamebook written by Steve Jackson. *There was an error in the Puffin edition of the book where a secret passage trigger phrase did not begin a paragraph entry like it was supposed to, leaving a player to discover the correct exit through the trial and error method of testing every paragraph entry. *Marrangha, the magic that Marr practices, is an almost anagram of the word "anagram" (with the addition of an "h" and an extra "r" to make the word less obviously an anagram and more fantasy-like). Dedication To Rob and Anne See Also *''Appointment with F.E.A.R.'' *''Fighting Fantasy'' *''Fighting Fantasy - The Introductory Role-Playing Game'' *''House of Hell'' *''Sorcery!'' *''Starship Traveller'' *''The Citadel of Chaos'' *''The Riddling Reaver'' *''The Warlock of Firetop Mountain'' External Links *Character Sheet References * * * Official sites: * * Category:1986 books Category:Fighting Fantasy Original Series Category:Fighting Fantasy Wizard Series